Gary Bradt: Don’t let fear rule your life and job
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Franklin Roosevelt’s words from the Great Depression echo louder across the decades than ever before.
I’m no economist. I don’t know if we are in a recession, depression or somewhere in between. But it doesn’t take an economist to know that times are tough. It doesn’t take an economist to know that many people are hurting and losing their jobs. It doesn’t take an economist to know that many of us are afraid and that fear, just as in Roosevelt’s time, has become our fiercest foe.
Fear is designed to protect us. It’s a biochemical reaction that gets triggered when we perceive the threat of bodily harm. If someone points a gun at our head, our body gears up to flee from our foe or gets ready to fight if we see no other escape route.
Right now, the economy is pointing a figurative gun to our head, and some of us are beginning to panic.
Screaming pundits on television compound the issue by constantly bombarding us with how bad things are. Rather than being protected by our fear, too many of us are becoming paralyzed by it instead.
And, once paralyzed, we stop doing the things that can help move us to a better place and instead worry about elements outside our control. We stop dealing with the realities of our lives and instead shrink from an imagined future that seems even worse than what we face now. We become on edge. Our relationships suffer.
A similar thing happens to organizations when fear becomes the prevailing emotion. Banks stop lending even to well-qualified customers. Companies stop building for the future and stop developing the employees they retain. Rather than scanning for opportunities, organizations follow the herd, even if the herd is headed for a cliff. Like a team playing not to lose, leaders become passive and overly cautious.
If this describes you or your organization, know you’re not alone. More importantly, know you’re not without hope. The pattern is common, but fear’s grip can be broken. Individuals can regain a sense of control and organizations can regain their market momentum.
Here are some suggestions:
* Stop constantly devouring the news on TV and incessantly scanning the Internet, ingesting every bit of bad news. Repeated exposure only feeds the monster. You can stay informed and on top of the headlines without gorging yourself on the excess negativity the broadcast media in particular tend to peddle.
* Next, stop focusing on things you can’t control and put your energy into the things you can. For example, unless you are a senior leader, you can’t control market conditions and whether your company lays people off. You can control doing your job to the best of your ability and expanding your skills whenever possible. You can begin networking now so that if you lose your job later you can hit the ground running.
* If you do get laid off, recognize your attitude will go a long way in determining how long you stay down. Who is more likely to get hired: someone harboring resentments from his or her past or someone with a positive attitude ready to move on? So take a few days to lick your wounds, but then pick yourself up, let the past go, and begin looking for new opportunities.
* And view every change, even the most difficult, as opportunity. You’d be surprised at how many people who have been laid off eventually say that in some ways it was the best thing that ever happened to them. Perhaps they used the time to reconnect with family. Or maybe they took advantage of the opportunity to stop and reflect on where their career was heading and decided to move in a more fulfilling direction. Maybe they used the time to go back to school and hone their skills or to develop new ones.
Entrepreneurs can seize market upheavals as an opportunity to create new ones. Savvy business leaders can use down times as an opportunity to build loyalty with their employees, perhaps trading layoffs for reduced work hours for all.
I am not saying the pain you may feel isn’t real or that getting through this is going to be easy. I am saying that tough times require a tough response and that the time to fight the fear that robs our peace of mind is now. You can’t always control external events, but you can control what you choose to do next, so choose wisely.
Roosevelt was right. His words reverberate louder today than ever. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. The more each of us fights the good fight against fear, the sooner we all win.
Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s moving forward despite your fear. So be courageous. America’s future (and yours) depends on it.
Gary Bradt is the author of “The Ring in the Rubble: Dig Through Change and Find Your Next Golden Opportunity” and a keynote speaker on change and leadership. He lives in Summerfield.
